Reading Period 10: November 10-16: The Odyssey

Good luck, Odysseus!

Long Read: 

The Odyssey by Homer, books 1-4 (The Telemacheia)

Poem:

"Odysseus to Telemachus"
Joseph Brodsky

 My dear Telemachus,
                   The Trojan War
is over now; I don’t recall who won it.
The Greeks, no doubt, for only they would leave
so many dead so far from their own homeland.
But still, my homeward way has proved too long.
While we were wasting time there, old Poseidon,
it almost seems, stretched and extended space.

I don’t know where I am or what this place
can be. It would appear some filthy island,
with bushes, buildings, and great grunting pigs.
A garden choked with weeds; some queen or other.
Grass and huge stones . . . Telemachus, my son!
To a wanderer the faces of all islands
resemble one another. And the mind
trips, numbering waves; eyes, sore from sea horizons,
run; and the flesh of water stuffs the ears.
I can’t remember how the war came out;
even how old you are--I can’t remember.

Grow up, then, my Telemachus, grow strong.
Only the gods know if we’ll see each other
again. You’ve long since ceased to be that babe
before whom I reined in the plowing bullocks.
Had it not been for Palamedes’ trick
we two would still be living in one household.
But maybe he was right; away from me
you are quite safe from all Oedipal passions,
and your dreams, my Telemachus, are blameless.

Creative Assignments:

Read "Odysseus to Telemachus" by Joseph Brodsky. In it, Odysseus addresses Telemachus from the island of Calypso, where he is losing track of time and his identity. Write a poem from one character mentioned in the Odyssey to another. You don't have to choose a central figure. It might be from Clytemnestra to Helen, for example. As with Brodsky's poem, make sure your poem clarifies the rhetorical moment. Who is speaking, who is being addressed, what the constraints of time and place might be, and what is the exigence or reason for writing in this moment.

OR

Mentor: "I'm not short, I'm a goddess." 

In book 2, Athena appears to Telemachus in the disguise of Mentor, Odysseus' old friend and Telemachus' mentor. Yes, mentor means "mentor" because of Mentor! This image is a famous illustration of the very popular French book Les aventures de Télémaque, written in 1699 by François Fénelon, archbishop of Cambrai. At the time, it was a political criticism of Louis XIV, and earned Fénelon some nice tasty exile. However it was a best-seller and even Thomas Jefferson loved it and read it multiple times. In this exciting tale, Telemachus and Mentor have wondrous adventures, until Mentor is actually revealed to be the goddess Minerva. Poor Mentor -- did he ever get a chance to just be himself? For your assignment, reproduce this illustration as accurately as you can.

OR

FRENCH STUDENT OPTION: Attempt a translation of the following bit from Les aventures de Télémaque:

Calypso ne pouvait se consoler du départ d’Ulysse. Dans sa douleur, elle se trouvait malheureuse d’être immortelle. Sa grotte ne résonnait plus de son chant ; les nymphes qui la servaient n’osaient lui parler. Elle se promenait souvent seule sur les gazons fleuris dont un printemps éternel bordait son île : mais ces beaux lieux, loin de modérer sa douleur, ne faisaient que lui rappeler le triste souvenir d’Ulysse, qu’elle y avait vu tant de fois auprès d’elle. Souvent elle demeurait immobile sur le rivage de la mer, qu’elle arrosait de ses larmes, et elle était sans cesse tournée vers le côté où le vaisseau d’Ulysse, fendant les ondes, avait disparu à ses yeux.
Tout à coup, elle aperçut les débris d’un navire qui venait de faire naufrage, des bancs de rameurs mis en pièces, des rames écartées çà et là sur le sable, un gouvernail, un mât, des cordages flottant sur la côte ; puis elle découvre de loin deux hommes, dont l’un paraissait âgé ; l’autre, quoique jeune, ressemblait à Ulysse. Il avait sa douceur et sa fierté, avec sa taille et sa démarche majestueuse. La déesse comprit que c’était Télémaque, fils de ce héros. Mais, quoique les dieux surpassent de loin en connaissance tous les hommes, elle ne put découvrir qui était cet homme vénérable dont Télémaque était accompagné : c’est que les dieux supérieurs cachent aux inférieurs tout ce qu’il leur plaît ; et Minerve, qui accompagnait Télémaque sous la figure de Mentor, ne voulait pas être connue de Calypso.
Cependant Calypso se réjouissait d’un naufrage qui mettait dans son île le fils d’Ulysse, si semblable à son père. Elle s’avance vers lui ; et, sans faire semblant de savoir qui il est :
— D’où vous vient - lui dit-elle - cette témérité d’aborder en mon île ? Sachez, jeune étranger, qu’on ne vient point impunément dans mon empire.
Elle tâchait de couvrir sous ces paroles menaçantes la joie de son cœur, qui éclatait malgré elle sur son visage.
Télémaque lui répondit :
— O vous, qui que vous soyez, mortelle ou déesse (quoique à vous voir on ne puisse vous prendre que pour une divinité), seriez-vous insensible au malheur d’un fils, qui, cherchant son père à la merci des vents et des flots, a vu briser son navire contre vos rochers ?
— Quel est donc votre père que vous cherchez ? — reprit la déesse.

Here's the entire thing, from Wikisource, if you want to try a different passage.

Writing Assignments:

Your writing assignments this week are from the midterm. They're due on Tuesday in class. Here's a link to the midterm so you can look back over the essay in which you identified the 12 elements.

MIDTERM: Now you write an essay (at home) of 500 words in which you utilize and label all twelve of these elements yourself. (36 pts) Description, Narration, Warrant, Cause/Effect, Induction, Analogy, Common Ground, Example/Illustration, Process Analysis, Classification, Definition, Policy claim. Remember to label your work -- you can do this after printing it, with a pencil or pen, or you can label it within the document. You may choose one of the following topics:

Production and sale of tobacco must be made illegal.
Monarchy is better than democracy.
Comments should be eliminated from YouTube videos. 

Penelope: "I'm just a REALLY slow weaver!" 

AP LANG: Write an additional essay of 500 words in which you take a clear position on the following issue: Does the author’s identity and biographical info validate or invalidate the content of the essay, or is it possible for the writing to stand on its own? As examples, use “Civil Disobedience” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Does King’s identity make his writing more valid? Does Thoreau’s identity invalidate his?

OR

Oedipus, Antigone, and Creon all break laws. Write an additional essay of 500 words in which you identify which laws they break. Explain who made the laws and analyze the respective characters’ reasons for disobeying them. What do the characters think of these laws? What does Sophocles think? Are these laws still applicable today? Is there still controversy over these laws?

So, to clarify: All of the students need to write a midterm essay, as assigned above, to be turned in on Tuesday in class. AP kids need to write the midterm essay to turn in to me on Tuesday, and an additional essay done in blue or black pen in your composition books (or looseleaf, whatever) chosen from one of the two AP options above. Time yourself at 40 minutes.

Paper:

Due Thursday November 16:
1. Outline Draft
2. Outline Revision
3. Half Draft with comments
4. First Draft with comments
5. Peer revision worksheet and marked up copy from your partner
6. Final draft

Please put everything in a folder or binder or in some way hold it all together, and make sure the folder and every individual element are all labeled clearly with your name.

Quiz:
1. When the Odyssey opens, how many years have passed since the end of the Trojan war?
2. How old was Telemachus the last time he saw his father, and how old is he now?
3. What goddess visits Telemachus disguised as Mentes, and what does she tell him to do?
4. Penelope is tricking the suitor into being more patient. How?
5. What sign appears from the gods during the assembly, and how is it interpreted?
6. According to Nestor, why did the Greeks split up after the fall of Troy?
7. Which brother did Odysseus go with?
8. According to Nestor, what happened to Agamemnon when he got home from the war?
9. What happy couple does Telemachus find in Sparta?
10. What news does he receive there about his father Odysseus?